ZDNet’s Charles McLellan kicks off this feature by taking a look at key trends in cloud and data center usage from the past year. TechRepublic’s Conner Forrest considers whether IT’s default setting has switched from data center to cloud, and he also explains the pros and cons of five different cloud types.

This ebook is useful to all tech leaders, whether they’re going all cloud, sticking to on-premise or going with a little of both. A research report from ZDNet’s sister site, Tech Pro Research, concludes that the majority of companies are using the hybrid approach and goes into detail about what’s moving to the cloud and what’s staying in the data center.

Acknowledging that not all companies will embrace an all-cloud strategy, Mary Shacklett investigates the main reasons to hang on to the data center. For those making the shift to the cloud, Alison DeNisco writes about five major pitfalls to avoid during a migration. Finally, Danny Palmer talked to Fitness First, a gym and health club operator based in the UK, about how a hybrid cloud approach helped the company save money and become more flexible.